Brief:
The Hawk Mountain Raptor is a near minimum diameter high-performance rocket kit with all fiberglass components, Kevlar shock cord, pre-cut and pre-beveled fins, pre-slotted airframe, and thru-the-wall fin mounting. This sky-puncher can fly on E-I power!

Construction:
When I ordered this kit, it came on time and packaged in a 4’ x 4” x 4” box with packaging paper to protect the fiberglass components. The parts that come in the big box are:

• 48” G-12 fiberglass airframe
• 12” 29mm Fiberglass MMT
• 15’ Kevlar shock cord with 2 quick links already attached (one with a swivel for the chute
• A Top Flight X-form 24” chute
• 2 ACME rail lugs
• Fiberglass nose cone
• 3 G10 fins
• Nose cone bulkhead with pre-installed eye-bolt
• Slimline 29mm retainer (optional)
• Piston assembly
• Payload bay for experiments and altimeters and electronics (optional)
• Instructions and simulation data with altitude, Mach number, and Motor recommendation

Construction started on a nice evening with rough, medium, and fine sandpaper as well as my trusty hobby knife. The fiberglass nose cone had some flashing on it from the mold but was easily removed to make it smooth. I also sanded the fin slots, MMT, and all surfaces to be glued. I first used JB Weld to glue on the Slimline retainer, then glued the nose cone bulkhead. Next came the shock cord attachment which was done by epoxying 3.5” of the shock cord to the MMT, however, the MMTs outside diameter was slightly smaller than the airframe's internal diameter. I was slightly confused by this since the instructions say to wrap a few revolutions of masking tape to center the MMT. While I glued the shock cord, I also glued the piston assembly onto the shock cord which rests on a knot 10’ from the end without the Qwik-links. Next, I attached the payload coupler and bulkhead. All of this so far was done with one batch of epoxy!

To continue, I glued in the MMT into the airframe and made sure the shock cord mount wasn’t in the way of the fin slots. Then I glued the fins in one at a time followed by the ACME conformal rail guides, which I made sure they were aligned by using an Estes 1/8” launch rod. I was able to finish the fin fillets the night before the December 3rd snow ranch launch. I finished assembly by simply attaching the nose cone to the quick link and the parachute to the swivel. A completed all fiberglass, near minimum diameter HPR screamer (minus the paint)!

Finishing:
I chose to leave the Raptor unpainted.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
On launch day there was a bit of fuss-and-bother about the motor until I selected the AT E30-4, which is on the recommended motors list, and installed it with the included Copperhead igniter and a home made 29/24mm adapter. I checked it in with the RSO, put it on the pad, and waited for the MPR rack to go. Finally the LCO was announcing it--5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and the Copperhead lit the E30 up instantly. It slowly came off the pad (slowly considering this is a capable machbuster) with a rather odd flame to the motor. It was a short blue flame and the Raptor came to a sudden halt about 50 feet up when it started to fall before the air was filled with a deafening crack as it pranged on the ranch dirt. Upon further inspection, 2 fins popped off and the worst damage was the adapter had moved into the MMT about 7 inches and burnt the epoxy off the MMT right to the first layer of fiberglass. Recently I was able to remove the motor and adapter and reattach 1 fin.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
This is a good fiberglass kit for mid power through high power motors.

PROs: Good quality components, Kevlar shock cord, and ease of construction.

CONs: Bad instructions on one 8.5” x 11” paper, and the flashing on the nose cone.

I would recommend this kit to anyone who wants a fun, small, fiberglass high power screamer. I would recommend the Slimline retainer and the optional payload bay for electronics or a good science experiment--it is easily removed and shaves about 3-4 ounces of its overall weight. Also this is a pretty cheap fiberglass kit with great quality components.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5